Language, Literacy, & Learning

The primary goal of the proposed study is to examine dimensionality of oral language, and the relations of oral language, academic language in particular, to reading and writing development by following children from kindergarten to fourth grade, using a cross-sequential longitudinal study design. Oral language skills have been hypothesized to play a role in writing, but surprisingly few studies have systematically examined the relation between oral language and writing (Shanahan, 2006), particularly with a longitudinal study design (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2006). Written language is typically characterized as decontextualized (or academic) as writing requires use of conventions of communication to a distant audience with whom little background knowledge can be presumed. In this study, we investigate the developmental relations of oral language (including academic language) to reading and writing.

Academic Language & Writing